Section 158BB

Section 158BB — the law in short

What the courts have decided on section 158BB, in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.

• CIT v Harjeev Aggarwal High CourtCuts both ways
  The department is taxing me on what I admitted in my statement during the search. Can an addition rest on that statement alone?
  No. The Delhi High Court held that a statement recorded under section 132(4) is not itself "evidence found as a result of search" for the purposes of section 158BB(1). It is information, and it can support a block assessment only so far as it is relatable to incriminating material actually unearthed in the search. A standalone admission, with no document or asset behind it, cannot trigger a block assessment. On the facts, though, the Court found there was such material - a diary of unaccounted sales and books that did not record admittedly cash payments - so the addition of Rs.74 lakh was restored.

Listed strongest first: Supreme Court, then High Court, then Tribunal, then CBDT. Nothing here has yet been read in full by a chartered accountant — open an entry to see where it came from.